I hope everyone survived that blizzard situation that happened this week, I can attest that it was a real betch to Chicago. I’m gonna make this little diddy short today because I’ve got a lot of links. But in the process of putting this post together I noticed that it’s abnormally female empowering, so…go girl!

What’re everyone go goin on this weekend? Should be a full one for me, I’ve got a birthday party, a bridal shower and checking out Siena Tavern during Chicago Restaurant Week. Other than that, I’ll likely be spending it getting lost in my latest book, All The Light We Cannot See. What’re you guys reading reading right now? I’ll see ya back here next week with some last minute Valentine’s Day gift guides – I’m talkin’ to you procrastinators!

Speaking of Valentine’s Day, let’s take a minute to send some love to some people who probably need it more than we do, sick kiddos. This year you can send valentines to the little cuties over at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. It takes two minutes to send ’em a smile, just do it! (Thanks for sharing Kate!)

We can all thank my mother for this one. Waffle iron recipes that will blow your mind. Here. You were gonna google it anyway after watching that video, this one is rated extremely well on Amazon and under $50.

Regardless of the fact it’s my livelihood, Photoshop is totally out of control in the media. (Exhibit A. And B. And C.) So let’s work to fix it by signing this petition to help creative positive change for young women by reducing Photoshop in magazines.

I die for fresh flowers in the apartment, but arrangements can get expensive. Take a minute (literally one minute and one second) to watch this video on how to make your own on the cheap.

What’s the one thing that Target time and time again excels at? Not counting guaranteeing that you walk out with waaaay more than you came in for, and a lot less money. Facewash, a Vitamin Water and tampons turns into needing a basket and leaving with three bags. But no, Target continually excels at their collaborations. That’s their thing niche now, and you know what, whoever held up their hand in that original brainstorm had better have been promoted. Because people go friggin’ ga-ga over collaborations.

Collabs are the new thing. I realize that they’ve been happening for awhile, but now it’s bigger, better, who can team up with who to form the ultimate brand product. Everyone is collaborating, in a valiant attempt to bring loyal customer bases across the aisles. I’ll admit, sometimes they reel me in, other times they don’t. But that’s not to say that I don’t love ’em as much as the next girl. Collaborations are something to get excited over. So when I saw that Kate Spade Saturday has not one, but TWO new collaborations, I did a little happy dance.

kate spade x new balance

First up, Kate Spade Saturday and New Balance! The two big brands have teamed up to make cross-trainers look goooood. The five (it seems like I can only purchase four of the styles on either brands website right now though) different patterns come in two existing women’s styles; the earlier WX711 and the more recent January release, WX811. They’re all in keeping with Saturday’s playful, colorful, patterned charm, while still managing to emblazon the New Balance signature N, on the side. Each pair will sell for $95, which I would consider a relatively reasonable price for a pair of well-made training shoes that look like these beauties! Bring it on Nike! Ok jk, I love Nike too! Ps, the images below were found on Saturday.com and NewBalance.com, and you can shop the shoes either place.

kate spade x west elm

Oh hellllllo! Kate Spade Saturday is also expanding their colorful and geometric style to homewares and I for one couldn’t be happier! Now you can enjoy Saturday everyday of the week when you shop West Elm. From rugs and bedding to furniture and accessories, you’re likely to find something that screams from your computer screen, BUY ME! Admit it, a few pops of color is just what everyone needs right now, especially if you’re in Chicago, it’s brown slush citttty! Shop the entire collection here. And if you’re like me and into winning stuff, you can enter to win $2,000 from Kate Spade and West Elm right hurrrr. And hey, telling you about this contest is basically lowering my chances of winning, so you’re welcome!

Now you may be wondering to yourself, didn’t this girl just tell me that Kate Spade Saturday was closing its doors? I did, but I wasn’t entirely correct on that front. Turns out, they’re only closing their brick and mortar locations, so Kate Spade Saturday will live solely online now. Which is fine with me since we never even had a Chicago location to begin with!

What’re some of your favorite past brand collaborations? Are you excited about either of these ones? If so, what do you have you eye on? Let me know in the comments below!

If you’re a regular reader you might remember one of my goals this year is getting out of my comfort zone and trying new things. So far I haven’t really been too attentive to this endeavor, I still haven’t tried yoga (work got a little hectic and it got put on the back burner, but it’ll happen, I swear!), but to tide me over until that happens, I hopped over to Skillshare to find a few classes that I could take to help grow this little blog o’ mine. But also to help out with my side hustle situation.

If you haven’t heard about Skillshare, it’s essentially a virtual classroom, bringing in experts in all areas of creativity and entrepreneurship to share their skills with the masses. I mean you can take classes about using Instagram to better your brand; learn the art of hand lettering, make a meatball any Italian grandmother would be proud of; you name it, they’ve probably got something close to what you’re after. They offer a basic membership that allows you access to any of their free classes, but you can also sign up for a monthly prime account that gives you unlimited access to over 700 classes. The prime membership is $10/month, so about the equivalent of one less Chipotle burrito bowl (with guac) a month, so not too terrible! Plus less burritos equals skinner! But if you sign up with this link, you can get your first month FREE! Free is good.

I actually signed up for Skillshare when I was trying out calligraphy for the first time. I signed up for Molly Jacques class Introduction to the Art of Modern Calligraphy and honestly, it was such a great experience. As cliché as it sounds, I felt like I had a friend helping me along. Which is why I think it’s time to give some other classes a try. Here’s what I’m looking forward to signing up for, you can watch their trailers below.

I’m also pretty geeked that I’m getting to take an actual class with Chuck Anderson next week at Soho House. Chuck teaches the popular Skillshare class Everyday Surrealism: Creating Art from Photos. He’s going to be sharing his story, work and process as well as leading a hands-on photography and Photoshop workshop. Yeeyeeyee! You can check out more of Chuck’s work here.

Anyone a Skillshare member? Or even just taken a class? Or if you haven’t, does this sound like something you’d be interested in trying? Gimme your thoughts in the comments below.

Holy moly Chicago, how about this blizzard?! I basically never have faith in what the weathermen tell me because thet tend to be wrong a good chunk of the time, but hey, they were right this time, so now we must deal. It’s actually really pretty though, so I’m not even that upset about it. Especially since we’ve got a heated garage spot at our new place, no more digging out and dealing with Chicago “dibs“. Hopefully everyone was able to get to work safely this morning though! Actually, better yet, I hope a day off or the option to to work from home!

Anyway, since we’re now into February (uh…what?!) I’ve got a new Playlist For The People for ya. New music for a new month is kind of how I like to reset. I’ve added a lot of newly discovered artists on here too, so let me know who you’ve been listening to lately down in the comments! And don’t forget if you’re on Spotify, you can listen here and follow all my playlists here.